The Game
by darkkittlecats
Summary: Instead of being sucked into an ancient board game, a couple of teens wake up in the modern video game version of "Jumanji". Tragedy, adventure, and lots of romance come into play as main character "Claire" uses every ounce of sense she has left to escape her horrifying reality. Note: no characters from the movie are used in this story. (lot's of growing romance)(lot's of tragedy))
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The sound of a girl's voice wakes me. She sounds scared. Am I dreaming? Wait, I can feel the hard floor beneath me so I guess not. Reality pounds against my skull as I slowly wake from a horrifying dream I had. As my blurry vision recedes, I realize I'm in a dark purple room with Madison, Zack and Jared. No doors. No windows. Nothing. Am I still dreaming? I should be. Last thing I saw was Madison snoring her lungs out and Jared on the couch with Zack, both asleep. We were at Zack's house anyway. I have to be dreaming.

"Claire! Are you awake yet?" that was Jared.

"Well her eyes are open so I think she's awake brainless" and Madison.

I stroke the dark purple floor with my fingers just to double check that I'm not dreaming. Where are we? How did we get here?

"Claire what's going on? You fell asleep at Zack's house like the rest of us right?" says Madison. I scrape my brown hair from my face as I try to figure out why we are here. "I think so," I'm still dreaming, "Zack did anything happen last night? Like anything weird?"

"All I remember was trying to make that video game work and then crashing on the couch after I saw that you, Madison, and Jared looked like you were asleep. Nothing else until I woke up here." Zack looks like he's telling the truth.

"Maybe somebody kidnapped us and put us in here" Jared says staring at the wall behind me.

"Maybe" I say.

I try to remember everything that happened yesterday, if it even happened yesterday.

"Bye mom, I'm going to meet with Madison, Zack and Jared now." I say happily as I'm already out the door. I run over to the local park and wait for the three to show up.

I sit under a tree and make a braid out of some long grass I found. The breeze blows through my hair as I stare up at the porcelain white clouds and watch a spider make its web in a nearby branch. Finally I am surprised by an energetic Jared as he runs around from behind the tree and swings me up over his shoulders, my face on his lower back.

"Jared!" I screech as he spins in circles obviously trying to make me dizzy. "Put me down!"

"No, I'm taking you to subway! Zack texted me that we are meeting there instead." He says with a huge grin on his face. "Here we go!"

I'm laughing the whole two blocks down to subway and trying to get Jared to put me down. My argument of people staring doesn't seem very convincing to him. When we get there, Jared finally puts me down and we eat with Madison while Zack tells a story of how he got out of gym class with a fake sprained ankle.

"So then, Mrs. Mason is like 'No go run, you'll be fine', and I'm like 'but it hurts!' and I even made it so there were tears in my eyes and I worked!" says Zack with a mouthful of sandwich.

After we eat, we walk outside in the warm summer heat and spend our time talking about what we should do next. Madison and Zack argue about whose house we are going too, but it looks like Zack wins when he scoops up Madison and jumps into a recycling dumpster. We are all laughing our heads off as Madison screams laughs and cries all in one hilarious sound.

"Eww Zack! What was that for!?" she says as she tries to climb out of the dumpster.

"Oh, you mean me winning the argument or throwing you in a dumpster?" Zack says.

"Throwing me in a dumpster! Wait what?!"

"Hahaha no particular reason, looks like we are going to my house."

Zack picks up Madison and helps her out of the dumpster. He whispers something in her ear I can't make out and she giggles. I have always wondered if there was something between them I don't know about. When we arrive at Zack's house, Madison and I immediately run to the couch and end up sitting on each other. She quietly whispers something about what Zack said to her. I couldn't understand what she said but I think it's something about Zack saying that she looked cute today. I guess I was right about there being something between them but I can't be too sure. She asks me about why Jared carried my on his back to subway but I'm interrupted by Zack and Jared flying into the living room fighting over a bag of popcorn and that's when it opens and popcorn goes everywhere. I laugh so hard that I fall off the couch next to Jared and Zack who are also laughing. After we clean the mess up, Madison, Jared and I get comfortable on the couch to watch a movie but Zack flops down on his computer chair and starts messing with a CD.

"Zack what are you doing? Come watch the movie with us." I say.

"Wait I'm trying to get this videogame to work!" He yells from across the room.

"Videogame? Get in here!" Madison yells back to him.

"Well I think it's a videogame. I found it in that dumpster and now it won't even work."

"Zack!" yells Madison.

"Fine..." he says.

We watch the Avengers together until about 9:00 at night. Madison fell asleep already on the floor next to me and it looks like Jared and Zack are asleep too. So I rest my head on Madison's shoulder and slowly drift off. I have a horrible dream about these mutant wolves chasing me, not able to escape the dark warped world I thought was my home. That's when I wake up in the purple room.

"Hey guys, I think that videogame I was trying to make work might have something to do with why we are here." says Zack.

"That's crazy, how could a videogame put us here?" Jared retorts back.

"Well Jared, after I saw that you and the others were asleep, I went back to my computer and tried to get the videogame to work. When the home screen finally came up, all it said was 'Game 101001 loading'. It took like half an hour for that piece of crap to load and finally when it did, it said 'Warning-the players cannot exit the game upon entering until completed.' I had no idea what that meant but I pressed start anyway. My computer crashed as soon as I pressed start so I just got a blanket and crashed on the floor. That's all I remember."

"The players cannot exit the game upon entering until completed…" I say to myself. What if Zack is right and the video game did put us in here? I'm still dreaming. No it's too real. My thoughts swirl around in my head and I'm reduced to sitting with my knees up to my chest and my head resting on them, my arms wrapped around my head. Madison hugs me and tells me that we will try to find a way out of here.

Suddenly, words appear on the wall behind Zack.

"The answer to your problems lies right beneath your nose," Madison reads, "what does that mean?"

I think hard to myself, what could that mean? I stare at the cold purple floor trying to look for the answer. Wait…

"What if the way out is 'beneath our noses'?" I say to everyone.

"Yeah let's check the floor" Jared replies.

As we check the floor for any way out, buttons, levers, cracks, anything, I become less hopeful that we will ever get out of here. I'm about to give up when Jared excitedly yells that he found something. There is a crack between one of the tiles on the floor. I dig my nails into the crack along with Madison and we try as hard as we can to lift up the excruciatingly heavy tile, desperate for freedom. Once we have the tile lifted about an inch off the ground, Zack and Jared help moving the tile from its place.

I look down into what looks like a never ending hole. Although there is a ladder, no one volunteers to go down. But Madison speaks up and starts climbing down.

"Well I kind of want to get out of here so bye guys!" chirps Madison.

We all watch her climb down the ladder. We can't even see her anymore because it is so dark. Suddenly Madison yells up from the never ending hole and tells us there is a door. The hole becomes darker and colder as Jared, Zack and I descend into it. Finally when we reach the bottom, Madison leads us to the end of the cold, damp concrete hall where there is a door. It's not a big hall but its dark enough that when I reach the bottom of the ladder I can't see my friends anymore. But Madison, Zack, and Jared's screams let me know they are not far in front of me. I run to the door to find out what's going on, but only to find complete terror. The last thing I see is Madison in the arms of a monster, Jared on the ground, and Zack screaming his head off before a giant fist knocks me out cold.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

My thoughts are surrounded with terrifying screams. My head is throbbing and I can't move. Screaming. More screaming. It feels like days, weeks even before the world starts to make sense before my eyes. I slowly move my fingers across the floor where I lay. The cold, rough concrete steals the warmth from my fingers. Screaming. I think the screaming is coming from whoever is next to me. Jared? I can't tell if it is him or not. Suddenly the reality of it all slaps me upside the head when I see Jared leaning over me, tears on his cheeks and terror in his eyes. Zack is running around and Madison is unconscious and being held by a giant brown monster.

"Claire! Wake up! Holy crap… Claire!" Jared says as he shakes me.

I look up at him and try to get up. That's when I get a good look at the horrifying creature. It's a brown colored mountain of what looks like mud. Its arms are the size of semi trucks and it seems to have no feet. A literal mountain. It roars in anger as Zack tries to distract the monster and get it to put down Madison. I realize that I'm shaking like a leaf when Jared tries to pick me up and get me to my feet. He pushes me to the wall and tells me to stay put, his bright hazel eyes glistening with fear and determination. He and Zack start screaming at the creature. It seems to be working because the monster at least isn't trying to crush Madison in its fist anymore.

I'm looking around the enormous room, looking for anyway out. Then I see it, there is a big lever above the door in which we came through. Or what used to be a door because it seems to have disappeared. Now there is only a wall behind me. But I see the lever; it is about 10 feet above me. There is also a pole right next to me. If I climb it maybe I can reach it and pull the lever and hopefully save Madison. I take my white canvas shoes off to get more traction and start climbing. Inch by inch, I get closer to the lever. It seems even further away now that the shock of the circumstances has been replaced by fear. Finally I reach the lever and pull it as hard as I can.

The ground shakes as the brown mud creature crumbles to the ground. Zack and Jared run to Madison who is still unconscious. I climb down the pole and run over to them.

"Madison! Oh god is she okay?!" I yell as I run.

"She's breathing," pants Zack. He puts his forehead on hers and just lies there. Suddenly her eyes flutter open and she groans something unintelligible.

"Madison! Oh we thought we lost you!" says Zack. He hugs her tightly and we all join in. She buries her face in Zack's shoulder and starts crying. I hug her even tighter and stroke her hair as we sit in the remains of the mud creature. Soon after, we help her up but she immediately falls down and whimpers in pain.

"Oww! My ankle, I can't move it…" Madison says as she tries to get back up again.

"Here, get on my back, I'll carry you." Says Zack. Madison climbs up on Zack's back and he carries her to the door that opened on the other side of the room when I pulled the lever. It seems we are in an exact replica of the room we started off in. Except this time there are four sleeping bags and a box of fruit and crackers. At least the videogame has some decent hospitality. Zack sets Madison down on the thin black sleeping bag and immediately bunches it up to make a makeshift pillow for her ankle. Madison thanks Zack with a small smile on her face. I grab an apple and give it to Madison as I sit down next to her. She lies her head down on my shoulder as I eat a handful of crackers and tell the boys about how I found the lever.

"Wait, so there was a lever above the door, which disappeared, and you pulled it?" asks Jared.

"Yeah, I think that's why the monster went away as well." I reply.

"I see…"

The room is small enough where none of us really get our own space to sleep, so I just try to sleep with my back against the wall. I wake up with my head on Jared's shoulder. He seems to be sleeping too. I don't really care since I am too tired to really move anyway. The faint scent of Jared's cologne brings me back to sleep.

When I wake up, there are more words on the wall. I wake the others up tell them we should get ready.

"'If the last challenge wasn't fun enough, let's heat things up a bit.'" Reads Zack. "Oh no, I'm not going anywhere after what already happened. You guys can go but I'm staying here."

"Well the food is gone, apparently the game only gives us enough to last us until the next round or something." I say back to him. "I think we should go."

So we open the door that appeared on the wall and we walk into another large room. Only this time it's five times as big and rigged with all kinds of obstacles.

The obstacles are to my right and to my left is pretty much nothing. I look back at the obstacles and I see something hanging up on the wall at the end. Zack notices it too because he replies to my thoughts with what may be the answer.

"I think it's a first aid kit…" Zack whispers.

That's just what we need.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The first aid kit is about 150 yards away from where we stand. The only thing standing between us four and what could potentially save our lives is a myriad of enormous obstacles. From giant boulders to deadly looking pools of water to a large field that could hold any number of dangers. There is no way around each obstacle unless you count swimming through pits of toxic waste as an option. Before any of us has the thought to turn back, the door we came through disappears like the last time. It feels really hot in here all of a sudden. I look around for the source but find nothing. But when Jared screams at us to run, I come to a realization that there is a giant wall of fire behind us racing toward us at an alarming speed.

We take off running. We actually have a pretty good head start on the fire, but that is never something to under estimate. Our first obstacle is a giant rock wall made of boulders the size of cars. It's about thirty feet high and does not look to easy to climb up. Madison can't even make it up the first boulder because of her ankle.

"Madison, let me help you. Get on my back." Says Zack.

"No Zack, its ok you need to climb. You won't even be able to make it up if you carry me." Whimpers Madison.

"I'm not leaving you behind Madison, your hurt and I'm going carry you!"

Zack picks her up before Madison can finish her argument and he starts climbing. They are making pretty good progress until Zack starts slipping on every ledge he places his foot on.

"Zack, I can make it up, you can put me down. It's clear that you can't climb with me on your back."

Zack simply shakes his head and keeps going. Jared doesn't look like he is doing so well either. He was never a great climber. I remember one day in gym class at Washington high school when we had to climb a rope to pass. I made it up the fifteen foot rope in less than ten seconds with no problem. Jared on the other hand kept slipping and falling off it and it took him at least ten minutes to make it up. Mrs. Mason threatened to fail him but he blamed his trouble on a supposedly "sprained wrist" he claimed to have and she let him off the hook.

As I climb the giant rocks, I notice that the fire has caught up to us and is only 20 yards away now. I tell them to keep climbing and that we will make it. The rough stone cuts my hands and scrapes my bare knees but I have to keep going. The adrenaline that runs through my veins seems to be the only reason why I'm still climbing. Soon we are at the top and we rest for about a minute. Zack put Madison down and she hugs him. Luckily we don't have to climb down the wall but rather slide. There is a rock slide that dumps us into a pool of dark water. It doesn't look very safe but that's nothing to consider since the fire is almost at the base of the rock wall. Zack orders us to slide and we do.

Madison is having no trouble swimming but Zack stays right next to her anyway. I'm almost at the end of the pool when something pulls me underwater. It feels like a tentacle with no body and it's pulling me down fast. The pure terror in me keeps me from screaming but I'm underwater anyway so no one would hear me. My lungs scream for air and I am clearly not strong enough to fight the tentacle. Suddenly I feel someone's hand close around mine and then another. I am pulled to the surface and the tentacle finally let's go of my leg. Madison pulls me to the edge of the pool and pushes up out of it onto the ground. My vision swirls before me and I can barely make out who is talking me. I'm tempted to just lie here and sleep until I somehow hear that the fire just reached the edge of the pool. I look back and the rock wall has been completely swallowed by the raging fire.

Jared helps me up and we start running again. I don't know if it's just me or not but the ground is shaking. Am I still dizzy from my near death experience or what? I think the ground is actually shaking because Madison is constantly tripping and so is Jared. The grass covered field trembles beneath our feet and starts to crack. Waves of horror crash through me as the ground cracks and crumbles. It's not until pillars of rock shoot up from the ground when I can't even stand up anymore. I reduce to curling up in a ball and holding onto the grass for dear life. Then I hear Madison. She is about fifteen feet behind us and trying too hard to get up and run to us. Zack and I run to help her up but we are too late.

A hole in the ground opens up right under Madison. I grab her arm to pull her out but the water from the last obstacle causes her to slip right out of my hold. Right into the million mile deep hole that basically takes her life. Her matted long blonde hair flowing as I watch her fall into nothingness. The words "Player 2 eliminated" dance across the ceiling. I hear someone screaming. I realize it me after what feels like months. Jared is screaming too and Zack's face is white with fear and shock. He just stands there like a ghost. Something snaps in him and he pulls me too my feet and grabs Jared and forces us to run, all without saying a word. I can feel the heat of the fire which is too close to us for my taste. We run without question and soon we arrive at the end of the field. I grab the first aid kit and a door opens which we pretty much jump through to escape the fire. As I sit down to catch my breath I look up at Zack. He stares at the wall and his back heaves in pain. He doesn't cry or talk or anything. We don't say a word the rest of the night.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

No one sleeps tonight. There is no escape into such a fantasy. How could we possibly sleep after watching her fall down an abyss and die? Zack's lifeless eyes stare at the wall behind me for at least an hour. Jared is at least trying to make it look like he's sleeping, but the occasional shaking of his shoulders tell me that he is still awake. I'm awake for maybe another two hours before I somehow find sleep. Madison haunts my dream, or should I say nightmare. In my nightmare, I see her running from the wall of fire from the obstacle course. I'm running after her and even though I catch her, she still slips into the abyss. As she hangs on to my arms, a sinister smile crawls up her cheeks and her eyes turn to back pits. Suddenly we somehow instantaneously swap places, she is holding on to my arms now as I dangle helplessly over the abyss. Madison lets go of my arms and I fall into the hole. My screaming fills the air and my skin feels like fire. Suddenly Jared and Zack's faces appear, their eyes like black pits too, and they both say "You didn't save her". I wake up screaming my head off and crying at the same time.

I didn't save her. I could have. I could have held her tighter and pulled her up. But I didn't. I'm a monster. I start crying even harder now. I soon find myself in Jared's arms and sitting on the floor again. A tear runs down his cheek and his hand shakes with pain. I guess he senses my thoughts because he whispers to me that I couldn't have saved her and it's not my fault. Somehow this actually calms me down enough to fall asleep again. It's a dreamless sleep this time. Almost calm but not quite.

When I wake up again, I'm still in Jared arms but he's asleep too. Zack isn't though. He looks at me and then looks at the ground again. I get up slowly, as not to wake Jared and head over to Zack across the room.

"Hey" I say quietly.

"Hey" says Zack.

"You wanna talk?"

"I guess"

Zack positions himself so he's sitting in front of me and we are both facing each other.

"I could have saved her." Zack starts off.

"Zack it's not your fault-"

"Claire, I could have saved her, I insisted that I carry her so she wouldn't hurt herself and I let her go off. I let her go off and here we are now. "

"Zack-"

"No, I could have prevented this whole thing. If it wasn't for me and my stupidity for taking that CD and messing with it, we wouldn't be here. I could be with Madison, making her happy and seeing that gorgeous smile and blonde hair. And you could be with Jared; I've seen the way he looks at you. "

Somehow this makes me blush, maybe more than I should be.

"Zack, you didn't know, it's okay, and you're not stupid." I try to say convincingly, still trying to process what Zack said about Jared.

Zack is silent for a little while, but he soon gathers up his courage to speak up.

"Claire… can I tell you something?" Zack whispers to me.

"Go ahead" I say back to him.

"It's about Madison, before any of this ever happened. You know I like Madison. I'm sure at least you've noticed. Well, I was going to give this to her for her birthday."

Zack pulls a beautiful long necklace out of his jean pocket. It's has a silver chain and an emerald green pendant in the middle. Its iridescent blue and gold shimmer give it its beauty.

"It's beautiful…" I say in awe.

"Yeah it is isn't it. It must have cost me at least 50$ but it's worth it anyway. I bought it for her because I was going to ask her out. We have been talking for a while and I even took her out for ice cream a few times. We've always had so much fun together. I remember when we all went to the water park and you and Madison were going on that surfing thing. You both fell and then I jumped in to help you guys, but Madison slipped and fell over my legs. The way she looked at me as she was laughing her head off was enough to make me fall in love with her."

A few tears run down Zack's cheek and his shoulders start shaking, so I lean over and hug him. He leans his head on my shoulder and quietly sobs.

"Zack, you know it's not your fault. You and Madison would have made the best couple I could think of. She definitely would have said yes to you. She would have been the luckiest girl in the world to have you. Remember that after we get out of here."

Zack lifts his head off my shoulder, his soft auburn hair brushes up against my temple and he plants a kiss as soft as a butterfly's wing on my cheek.

"Thanks, you really are a good friend Claire. Go back to sleep." Zack whispers back to me, tears still laced across his face.

I walk back over to Jared and sit back down next to him. I start to wonder about what Zack said about him liking me. I knew that he really liked me as a friend and we have always had lots of fun together, but does he really like me like that? I take into consideration that he has been here to comfort me or help me in some way since we got here. But these past few days have even brought out a kiss from Zack, and I know for a fact now that he only likes me as a friend. I guess I'll watch Jared for a while and try to see what Zack is talking about.

My mind is so blank right now that I start to just look at Zack and Jared. I've never really just looked at someone just because I could or could get away with it. Kind of like when you're in a class and you catch yourself staring at someone but you could care less about who they are. I notice Jared's jaw line first. It's actually very attractive for his face. It's square but fits his face perfectly. His dark blonde hair, which is usually spiked up at the front, is starting to flop over his face. He also has dimples that only come out if he's smiling. He's very tall, but muscular at his arms and chest. His tall, muscular frame and thick but groomed eye brows make him look like he's 21 even though he is 17. Zack is not too much different from Jared. Zack's hair is a little darker, and he has an olive complexion compared to Jared's lighter but slightly tan complexion. His hair is a little longer but only by half an inch or so. Zack is a bit shorter but still a good 5 foot 10. Zack is a little more muscular than Jared but only by his arms. Neither of them are overweight in any way. In fact, they go to the gym together maybe 3 times a week. I have to admit, they are both very attractive.

Now I start to remember Madison's looks. She's short, but very slim like me. Her light blonde hair goes down to her mid back. She was almost something like a tumblr girl. Though she was into things like makeup and hair, she always wanted to sit in sweatpants and hoodies. She had curves but was still very skinny. She had these cute little dimples under her eyes when she squinted. Everything about her was beauty, but she was the one who taught me how to see the beauty in myself.


End file.
